OJJDP’s Police & Youth Engagement Project:

Supporting the Role of Law Enforcement in Juvenile Justice Reform

POLICE EXECUTIVE ADVISORS: OVERVIEW

Overview:

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) Police & Youth Engagement Project invites police executives to apply to participate in a two-day long training and roundtable discussion on improving the relationship between youth and law enforcement.

Twelve (12) to fourteen (14) police executives will be selected. The project aims to include police executives from each region of the country who serve in urban, suburban, tribal and rural communities. Diversity is important to the project’s success, and as a result, the group will include police executives with a wide range of experience with youth engagement and juvenile justice reform.

Objective:

Police executives from across the country are being brought together to engage with youth to discuss their thoughts and experiences. Youth advisors selected for this role will have had a range of positive, negative and mixed experiences with law enforcement which may include youth diverted by law enforcement, youth arrested by law enforcement, youth exposed to violence, or youth who were victims of crime. Participants will take part in a two-day long training and conversation, which is scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. on April 27th and 28th, 2016. Insights shared by the young people and law enforcement leaders who attend this gathering will be used to inform a national law enforcement training institute for law enforcement leaders as well as tools and resources for law enforcement around the nation.

This effort is funded by the U. S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). It is being led by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), in partnership with the Coalition for Juvenile Justice (CJJ). OJJDP is a federal office that envisions a nation where our children are healthy, educated, and free from violence. If they come into contact with the juvenile justice system, the contact should be rare, fair, and beneficial to them. The IACP is dedicated to advancing the law enforcement profession through advocacy, outreach, education and programs by developing and implementing state-of-the-art policies, practices, training/education and technical assistance programs. CJJ is a membership organization that envisions a nation where fewer children are at risk of delinquency; and if they are at risk or involved with the justice system, they and their families receive every possible opportunity to live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives.

This project grew in part from the Attorney General's National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence (CEV) Final Report and asserts that police play a critical role in responding to CEV, not only ensuring public safety, but also serving as a “gateway for connecting children and families to trauma-informed services and trauma-specific treatment.” The 2015 report from the International Association of Chiefs of Police’s National Policy Summit on Community-Police Relations provides several recommendations for law enforcement to positively engage youth, including training officers on the differences between youth and adults and tactics to effectively de-escalate situations that include police-youth interaction.

Such trainings are important. Law enforcement has a significant role in the outcomes for youth, whether it be a decision to make an arrest, divert, cite, give a warning, intervene, and/or to positively engage with young people to foster positive youth development, or aid a child towards recovery in the wake of overwhelming, violent and traumatic events that occur in and around youth every day in neighborhoods, schools, and homes.

General Responsibilities of Police Executive Advisors:

Police Executives will participate in planning and preparatory calls, including a one-hour orientation call in mid-April. Members will actively participate in a two-day session that is scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. in late April 2016. During the first day, participants will be provided a brief review of the juvenile justice system with specific focus on the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) as it relates to the role of law enforcement in juvenile justice reform. Additional topics will include an overview of the development of youth thought patterns and behavior, trauma-informed responses to youth, long term effects of adverse childhood experiences and strategies for effectively engaging, communicating, and problem-solving with youth.

On the second day, youth and police executives from around the country will actively participate in a roundtable discussion that will involve a conversation focused on finding ways to improve police and youth relationships. The roundtable will help to inform the development of a national leadership training institute for police leaders, which will be held in November 2016.

Benefits for Police Executive Advisors:

Police Advisors will have an opportunity to help address an urgent and important national issue by working with youth to help inform and create a training curriculum that will be used to educate police leaders on effective strategies for enhancing youth and law enforcement engagement in communities around the country.

Qualifications for Police Executive Advisors

At a minimum, the ideal candidate should have the following experiences, skills, and qualities:

-  Actively serving as an executive law enforcement leader within an urban, suburban, tribal, or rural community

-  Willingness and ability to actively listen, engage and work in a diverse group, to include youth and young people

-  Interested, passionate about and/or committed to helping improve law enforcement relations with youth and/or juvenile justice reform;

Selection Process for Police Executive Advisors:

To apply, candidates must submit the following materials:

(1)  Application form including all short answers

(2)  Resume or Biography

Costs for Police Executive Advisors:

Travel, lodging and per diem expenses will be arranged and provided for Police Executive Advisors.

Candidates may submit their application materials via the online survey located here. Completed applications may also be submitted by email to . Please note due to the volume of responses anticipated, we are unable to acknowledge each application received.

Applications are due Monday, March 16 at 11:59 pm EST. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Candidates may be selected for an interview during the review process. If a candidate is selected for an interview, the candidate will be contacted directly. Candidates who are interviewed will be notified of final decisions by April 8, 2016.

Questions:

If you have questions about serving as a Police Executive Advisor, you may contact Laura Renenger by email at , or by phone at 703-647-7274.